random thoughts before spring

I'm awaiting spring with an eagerness in my spirit like a child on Christmas morning.

Could spring be my new favorite holiday?  I think so.

While I'm busy trying to forget the two weeks my husband was in Bolivia and the stomach bug came and stayed at our house instead, spring is peeking out with buds on the trees and daffodils.  

Instead of an almost-five-year-old crawling into my bed and throwing up all over it two minutes later, I will choose to remember the beautiful rainbows of St. Patrick's Day.  (If you like crafty things, you should be reading Krokotak and OhHappyDay.  Just saying'.)

I don't care if we made this holiday up or not, after the winter we just had, I'm all about colorful and sparkly.

I came across a cool mom at FantasticFunandLearning  that made gold glitter play dough for her kids to celebrate those sneaky little leprechauns and their pots o' gold.  (An invitation to play is a genius concept, by the way.  You set the stuff out before they have nothing to do, even before they wake up, and they can get right to it.  One day, I plan on getting up before them.  Although, why not do it the night before?)

Anyway, I asked my sick kids if they'd like to make some glittery dough and Diego promptly said no.

So I was happy to oblige my 10 year old and make it with her.

But gold glitter play dough can only be ignored for so long.  They played with it for two hours.

And while Carmen's bout with roseola was no picnic, she did learn to snuggle with me in the bed...what's a baby for, if not snuggling?  

I'll happily say goodbye to the winter snow and freeze that had us cuddled under the comforters and welcome in the warmer temperatures with some outdoor time that can finally thaw us out.

Carmen is almost ONE, and could it be this is the first time she's crawling around on actual grass and leaves?

There's nothing so thrilling in the world.

Spring means it's time for some exploring.  The world is new again.

And while I silently fumed at Juan Pablo's absence during our fight against invisible, microscopic enemies, he did come home with some cool presents.

These little wooden puzzles were begging for their pieces to be lost, so I used some sticky velcro and attached them all.  Now they can be a decoration on the wall, as cute as they are, but the kids can still play with them.

I've always been in love with these colorful wooden figures we discovered many years ago in La Paz, but they're very expensive.  We've only had two, forever...but he surprised me with this funky llama with a cut-out of the Illimani mountain in his belly.

And Diego and I have chosen our favorite threading bead, the dragon.  Isn't he cute?

I like how the string came with a huge bead at the end, to keep them from falling off, and a wooden peg at the beginning to help thread them on.  Toys from other countries are cool.

We've got two big birthdays coming up at the end of this month!  Spring is coming.  Thankfully.

What are you looking forward to?